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About GHartford

Thanks for the info! I would love to see commuter rail service anywhere. Sounds like a cool line, although I'm not sure how useful it would be with the New Haven Springfield line's station stops in Enfield and Springfield. I have driven by the old East Longmeadow station and wondered what line that was. EL would be a great place for Transit Oriented Development...

Agreed. Residential must be a part of any project like this. Haven't we learned our lesson from the Civic Center Mall and Constitution Plaza? If given the choice between suburban style retail in suburbia and in Hartford, they will choose suburbia. This needs to be a truly urban development, which means people- at least some people in the area 24/7.

This is a disgrace. Building a half baked version without any residential will be a disaster. I think they should look at a temporary use for now- perhaps an outdoor market-until the housing market heats up. This project needs to have residential and it needs to be done well. Building something just to build something will do more harm than good at this point.

I was downtown today at a meeting and I had a good view of the Front Street area. Here is my concern. The area, as we know, is not very big. I think with the ESPN thing, some quality residential and retail and good planning, it will be a nice little district. But, it really needs to be connected to the current business district (Main Street) somehow. I can't see how that's possible with the Library/City Hall/Courthouse in the way. We want people to make the connection between the Front Street/Convention Center District and the rest of Downtown. On the other side, the Phoenix and Travelers cut Front Street off from the business district. Any ideas on if and how this can be done? Just seeing the actual physical setup of the area today made me skeptical...

I wonder if she needs a history lesson on the name Front Street- named after the original Italian neighborhood (East Side) leveled to make room for what is there now. At the time, that neighborhood was looked down upon for its minority, immigrant population. So he statement that the name doesn't invite her or other minorities is ironic. Naming the site Front Street will never bring back the neighborhood. But it certainly pays homage to a Hartford minority group's past and shines a light on the group's history.

I know most people in this forum don't like the busway- for good reasons. Rail would be more reliable, more permanent, and more attractive to the upper-middle class. I agree with all those assessments. Still, I think the busway can be successful if it is done right. That means- permanent, large, heated and cooled, attractive stations, Clean buses- both physically and environmentally, and reliable service. That would eliminate most of the complaints people have about buses. With the right of way, the busway should compete with the automobile in terms of time- something buses have never been able to do. This will have to be marketed smartly. I'm not sure the DOT is capable of this- but even if the plans were for rail I would doubt the DOT's ability to market the project. Still, I think this could be a successful project, despite people's anger over it not being rail. The best thing we can do to show the DOT that we want more and better public transportation is to use what we have and demand more of it. I hope that, despite our misgivings, people on this board will use the busway when it opens...
A quick question. People have mentioned that fact that the busway would pave a portion of the rail right of way. But, I don't think that would mean actually paving over any track, would it? I know in Hartford, the busway would be beside the track...

With all due respect...the fact that the Connecticut legislature is controlled y the Democrats has NOTHING to do with the fact that the Clarion lies vacant. Hartford has suffered from lots of mistakes- which have been made under all sorts of legislatures. You are welcome to your politics, but blaming Hartford's problems on a political party is incredibly short-sighted.